galar's haunted

Full credit to the little prankster, that got you for the most fleeting of instants. You froze like a statue carved from stone, your lone eye wide as a dinner plate before your shoulders went slack again.

“You know I’ve seen scarier things in my toilet, right honey?” Your tone offers the flavor of an apology. “It‘s not you, it’s me. I’m old and I’ve seen too much.”

The obvious question you have to ask leads to a quick scan of your surroundings. “Are you— are you out here by yourself, or are you with someone?”

“...He’d be mine...Sorry ‘bout my friend...”  Sheepishly, the gym leader approached the duo, gently taking the Gastly into his arms.  “...Hope he didn’t cause you too much trouble...”

“...He slipped away when I happened to be lookin’ elsewhere...”  Curiously, his cowlick had pointed at the other for a moment.  “...”  No, he wasn’t going to bring it up, Allister played it off as if his hair had just flopped.

What was a Gastly without its trainer?  A nuisance, that’s what it was.  And Allister’s was no exception.

The pokemon in question had managed to slip away from his trainer’s eyes long enough to get far away enough to torture some poor soul nearby.

          ★ –;; Inevitably, it didn’t take long for the gaggle of children that usually shadowed his coat tails to drag Vash out into the frozen white blankets that covered the city, regardless of his dramatic moaning and groaning about the cold (even if it was only for show). He’s been pulled into making an absolute monstrosity of a snow ‘angel’, been rolled around in the snow as if they were making a snowman out of him, and now, they’ve decided was time for true reckoning. 

Vash absolutely shrieks as snowballs whiz past him before one finally hits him with a firm smack in the back of the head, and he promptly trips over himself into the nearest mound of snow.

It’s only when his head finally manages to pop back out that he catches sight of their newest observer. 

“Hey!” he chimes, a smile on his face as a clump of snow falls from his destroyed nest of hair onto his nose.

“Do you wanna join?”

“...”  He brought his hand up and tapped the mask he was given upon arrival.  It did feel much more durable than the masks he had at home.  Perhaps...He could join in without fear of it breaking.

Still, no verbal response, he kicked his feet in the powdery snow.  It was a very tempting offer.  Maybe a quick game couldn’t hurt...He brought his pokeball up and returned his Gastly for the time being.

Repeated reflections seemed to be the the theme of this room, he had practically no blind spots.  Thanks to this and his ghostly companion, Allister could tell the other party in the mirror room seemed off put by the gaseous pokemon.

“...”  Staring was rude.  But, it’s not like anyone could tell he was staring, as his mask obscured his eyes.  Though, he felt like he’d been noticed, he quickly grew skittish and began to panic internally.

“...”  Snow Fun Allowed, huh?  Normally, youth like Allister would jump at the chance to join in on the fun.  But, Allister wasn’t like most kids, he was scared he might not get along with others, or worse, he’d become a target.  A child with a penchant for ghosts was considered rather weird, even where he was from.  Though, he was harmless at best.

“Oh...No...”  The masked boy found himself rubbing at the one ball he was granted to keep.  This place was strange, the most he could relate it to was purgatory, but even that didn’t sit right.  Given all the festivities around at current, Allister already found himself wanting to find wherever he would call home for now and just curl up.  Something told him this wasn’t a nightmare, it all felt too real.  And boy, was it cold.

“...I wonder...Who was allowed to accompany me...”  Allister pressed the button in the middle of the ball to let out his partner pokemon.  To his surprise, he wouldn’t find a Gengar, but rather, Gastly.

The pokemon and trainer both exchanged glances.  A tired glance from the ghost pokemon, especially readable.

*hands you a ghost* *hands you a ghost* *hands you a ghost* *hands you a ghost* *hands you a ghost*

Described by the announcer as a friend.  He would be correct.

Has trouble expressing himself, but he’s a good kid.

Took on the responsibility to be a gym leader at a young age, sometimes he forgets he’s just a kid.

There was a mysterious accident that happened that made him attuned to ghosts.  He doesn’t talk about it.

Luckily, that’s where Gengar comes in-